Voluntary Action Scotland advocates for, co-ordinates and supports the work of Scotland’s local third sector support organisations.

Local Resources

Websites from local infrastructure bodies which offer information relevant to organisations based or working in their areas and/or a directory of local voluntary and community groups. Dates given in brackets are the most recent times we checked what they were up to. We can’t list every site here, so aim to have a spread across the UK, particularly those with a good range of accessible material or voluntary sector contacts info.

You may also want to try out external search engines to locate local facilities and groups as they are easier to find than when this page was started.

County and District

A trend of local council sites creating directories of voluntary organisations operating in their area appears to have reversed. There are probably some still out there – do let us know of live sites, or those in development.

Regional

Sector Networks/Forums

Often set up in response to the Labour government’s ‘regional agenda’, and with less financial support since then. Our Lobbying page has any remaining regional government links.

These initiatives are primarily about improving communications between voluntary and community organisations in their region (who are encouraged to be members), providing information on issues which effect them and encouraging the development and dissemination of good practice. Also often doing regionally based lobbying.

Technology/media focus

Local Mixed Bag

Many cities and larger towns have their own sites, run commercially, by the local council, individuals or community groups. These will often have something about local voluntary activity, but quality and focus vary hugely. Some will not get past listing the next car boot sale in aid of the Scouts. However, they are worth a try.

Also check local newspaper websites.

Other local sites worth a look

We haven’t checked these sites fully, or they don’t quite make the grade to be in the sections above.

Using VolResource

Options to find your way around are below, or see the About page for help.

Content is always up for review, especially older material copied over from the original VolResource site. We welcome your help in adding new sources, updating references etc. – use the comments or see About page.